Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Blackstone said to plan sale of Berlin properties, Bloomberg saysBlackstone Group (BX) is planning to sell 8,000 German apartments it bought in 2012 as it seeks to profit from the rise in value of those assets. Reference Link

KKR's Samson in restructuring talks, WSJ saysKKR's (KKR) Samson Resources is in discussions with restructuring advisers at Blackstone (BX) and other firms on how to handle its $3.8B long-term debt, reports the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. The Journal notes that Samson previously expressed interest in selling some oil and gas fields. Reference Link

Blackstone Energy Partners II is oversubscribed at $4.5BBlackstone announced the commencement of the investment period for its second energy-focused private equity fund, Blackstone Energy Partners II, with total commitments of $4.5B. BEP II received significant interest from both existing and new investors, with demand well surpassing the fund’s $4.5B hard cap. Investors in the fund include a diverse group of U.S. state pension funds, corporate pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations and family offices. Like its predecessor fund BEP I, a $2.4B fund that had its final close in September 2012, BEP II will invest in control-oriented equity and equity-linked interests in companies, assets and development projects in the energy and natural resources sector on a global basis. To date, Blackstone’s energy-focused private equity team of professionals has deployed over $8B in this strategy. Blackstone's $16B diversified global private equity fund will continue to invest alongside BEP II in energy transactions on a 50/50 basis.

Rentech secures additional loan commitment of up to $63M from GSO CapitalRentech, Inc. (RTK) announced that GSO Capital Partners LP, the credit investment arm of Blackstone (BX), has increased its credit facility for Rentech by up to $63M. The majority of the proceeds from this new facility are expected to fund completion of Rentech’s Canadian wood pellet projects through positive cash flow. Rentech now estimates the cost to complete the construction of its Canadian wood pellet projects to be $125M-$130M. Rentech expects that the new term loan, together with its other cash resources, will be sufficient to fund its Atikokan and Wawa pellet projects until they have been commissioned and begin to generate positive cash flow. Rentech currently estimates that the cost to acquire and construct the two plants will be $125M-$130M, up from $105M. The majority of the increase is due to delays in construction and higher labor costs for installation of electrical and mechanical components. Rentech expects that working capital and the cost to commission the plants will add approximately $6 to $10 million to the estimated total project cost. Rentech does not expect the plants to generate positive EBITDA or cash flow for the year 2015. Annual stabilized EBITDA projected for both plants remains in line with previous guidance of C$17M-C$20M.